Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the card offers that appear on this website are from companies which ValuePenguin receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). The site does not review or include all companies or all available products.

Disclaimer: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author's alone. For a full list of our advertisers, see our disclosure page.

Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card

Opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed here are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed or endorsed by the issuer. We may be compensated through the issuer’s Affiliate Program. For a full list of our advertisers, including American Express, see our disclosure page.

The Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card used to be a decent credit card, but has largely faded away with the introduction of its newest cousin, the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card. It used to be good for consumers who wanted travel rewards without the hassle of rotating categories, but some of its features and restrictions make it less attractive than the pure cash back rewards card, the Quicksilver, and its upgraded sister, the Venture Rewards. Be sure to read our comparisons against other credit cards to pick the best card for you.

The Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card has a low rewards rate, and doesn't make sense to have in your wallet when there are better and higher-earning credit cards out there. Its 1.25% return is lower than other no-fee credit cards that you can earn, such as the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card. Below is a summary of the pros and cons of the credit card, and a credit card comparison visualization its better cousins, the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card (2% cash towards travel), and the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card (pure 1.5% cash back).

Pros of Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card

Early spend bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $1,000 on purchases within the first 3 months

No foreign transaction fees - save 3% on charges made abroad!

No annual fees

Cons of Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card

Not the best card to maximize rewards return (compare with the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card for 1.5% cash back on all expenses, or the 2% Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card with annual fee)

Lower cash back returns on non-travel related rewards of 0.625%

Name

Savings Through (Through 24 Months)

Rewards

Dollars

Edit Monthly Spend: $1,430

General:

Gas:

Groceries:

Airlines:

Hotel:

Dining:

Office:

Utilities:

Computing:

Card

Annual Fee

2-yr Net Rewards Rate

The Net Rewards Rate is equal to the Rewards Value over two years divided by the total spending. The total spending is equal to the values entered into the tool and multiplied by 24 months. See the Rewards Value note to see details on how it is calculated.

The estimates here are ValuePenguin's alone. They are not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.

Bonus Value

The bonus field shows our estimate for the value of the card’s sign-up bonus. If the bonus is point or mile based, we multiply the total bonus points/miles by our estimate for their value to arrive at a dollar equivalent. We display $0 if there is no bonus or if the user doesn’t qualify for the bonus based on the current spending entered into the tool.

The estimates here are ValuePenguin's alone. They are not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.

2-yr Rewards Value

The Rewards Value is calculated by adding together the rewards earned from charging purchases to the card over two years and any sign-up bonuses (if applicable). They are then multiplied by our estimated point/mile value, with any annual fees (if applicable) subtracted. All values are based on our own estimates for the dollar value of any points, miles or bonuses earned using a card.

The estimates here are ValuePenguin's alone. They are not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.

Card Details

Enjoy a one-time bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $1,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel

Earn unlimited 1.25 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day and pay no annual fee

Fly any airline, stay at any hotel, anytime

Enjoy a low intro APR on purchases for 12 months; 12.99%-22.99% variable APR after that

Travel when you want with no blackout dates

No foreign transaction fees

Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn

Note: The information in this box was provided by
Capital One® and is not part of our independent analysis.

Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months

Card

Rewards

Estimated Rewards Value

Dollars*

Spending Rewards

42,900

x $0.01 =

$429

Bonuses

20,000

x $0.01 =

$200

Total Net Estimated Rewards Through 24 Months

629

Now that you understand the high level summary of the VentureOne, look into the nitty gritty of how the card works, and what better value you could be getting at other credit cards.

In-Depth Analysis: Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card

The VentureOne has a simple earnings formula: any purchase you make earns 1.25 miles on the dollar. No caveats or exclusions. Be it food, clothing, or basketball game tickets bought at a restaurant, department store, or online at Amazon - all are eligible for this simple flat rate. While other credit cards can have rotating categories each quarter, the Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card is a much more constant and dependable card all year round. A quick summary of the card's major features and benefits.

Enjoy a one-time bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $1,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel

Earn unlimited 1.25 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day and pay no annual fee

Fly any airline, stay at any hotel, anytime

Enjoy a low intro APR on purchases for 12 months; 12.99%-22.99% variable APR after that

Travel when you want with no blackout dates

No foreign transaction fees

Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn

Note: The information in this box was provided by
Capital One® and is not part of our independent analysis.

Early Spend Bonuses

Currently, new Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card applicants are eligibile to earn a bonus of 20,000 miles if they make $1,000 in purchases in the first three months. These bonus miles are worth $200 dollars towards a statement credit usable on a weekend getaway, impromptu vacation or any other travel expense.

Save up to 3% on Foreign Transaction Fees

This card will be good to have in your wallet when you're traveling abroad. Most credit cards and issuing banks charge a 3% fee to translate the local currency into your country's denomination. For purchases in a foreign currency, saving the 3% fee is easily more than the savings or rewards you could possibly receive with other cards. If you're going to be overseas, don't underestimate the value of having no foreign transaction fees.

How can I redeem or use the reward miles with this credit card? Capital One lets VentureOne owners pay off past purchases with their miles (this is the "Purchase Eraser"), or book future travel with their reward miles. You can use your miles towards: travel, cash, account credits, gift cards, products, special experiences (skydiving, private dinner parties catered by chefs, etc.), and even towards local charities. While certain credit cards rewards are held captive by allegiance to a specific carrier, or subject to blackout dates and availability of seats, Capital One only cares about the price of that ticket. To redeem miles, simply divide your reward miles balance by 100 for travel. Bear in mind that redeeming your mile rewards for cash gives you less value than if you had used it towards travel.

Redeeming For Travel

Using your miles for statement credits on travel expenses will net you a 1 dollar credit for every 100 miles. This can include any spending flights, hotels, taxies, subways, and car rentals. By spending your VentureOne rewards on travel, the card will have an effective rewards rate of 1.25%.

Redeeming For Merchandise

Redeeming your bonus miles for merchandise must be done throuhg Capital One's rewards center, where you can spend miles to purchase available items. The value of the miles will vary since the products sold through the center may be availble for different prices on sites such as Amazon or other retailers. Overall, expect to significantly less than 1 dollar for every 100 miles when using your points this way.

Example 1: the Garmin nuvi 2597LMT 5-Inch Vehicle GPS with Lifetime Maps and Traffic is selling for $199.99 on Amazon, and can be redeemed for 33,750 miles in Capital One's rewards center. This translates to an effective redemption rate of 169 miles / dollar.

Redeeming For Cash Back, Gift Cards and Other Expenses

For non travel expenses, it will take you twice as many miles (200) for each dollar of credit. This opens up some flexibility if you really must use your miles but the loss in value makes it an option of last resort. Spent in this way the rewards from the Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card would only net you a .63% rewards rate, significantly below average.

Credit Card Comparisons

As we mentioned above, the Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card is fading in value. Here are two other superior credit cards that you should consider instead: the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card, and the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card.

This table lays out the ongoing earnings potential under the VentureOne vs. its upgraded cousin, the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card. We're excluding bonus miles to compare the long-term value of the cards.

Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card

Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card

Credit card charges

$12,000

$12.000

Miles earned

12,000 x 1.25 = 15,000

12,000 x 2 = 24,000

Travel awards redeemed

15,000 / 100 = $150

$24k / 100 = $240 - $59 fee = $181

Redemption Return

$150 / $12k = 1.25%

$181 / $12k = 1.5% incl fee

As you can tell from the above table, the VentureOne earns less than the regular Venture Rewards does (in fact, the tipping point is a little less than $8,000). If you're planning on spending more than $7,867, then the Venture Rewards card gives you greater bang for your buck. The 1.5% return accounts for the $59 annual fee that starts getting charged in year 2 and onwards, and the more you spend, the more that fee gets spread across your spending and the greater your redemption return rate.

There's a new contender in the cash back credit card market, and its name is the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card. This card gives cardholders 1.5% straightforward cash back - about 50% more than the typical cash back credit cards do without making folks jump through hoops on special categories and sign-ups.

The two cards are quite similar (no FX fees, no rotating or promotional categories), with the exceptions of the early spend bonus and the earnings rate. The value of the miles from the VentureOne®'s welcome bonus is higher than the Quicksilver®'s promotional offer, but over the longer course, you'll get more value from the extra percentage earnings from the Quicksilver®. The extra 0.25% makes a difference at higher levels of spending, and will outweigh the VentureOne's initial miles bump. In fact, if you spend more than $40,000 in the first year, the Quicksilver will get you greater value (the extra $100 from VentureOne's bonus is hard to overcome). Over the long run, the Quicksilver's higher earnings rate will be better.

More Information

What credit do I need for the Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card? Excellent credit, according to Capital One bank. The issuer defines this as: no bankruptcy or defaulted loans, being less than 60 days late on your credit card or other payments, and having a credit card or loan with a credit limit above $5,000. An answer to this question can be had as soon as you submit your VentureOne® application online. The application is easy to fill out, and Capital One is fairly quick with their credit approval review, unless your credit history needs more review.

Comments and Questions

* See the online credit card application for details about terms and conditions. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. When you click on the "Apply Now" button, you can review the credit card terms and conditions on the issuer's website.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.

These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

How We Calculate Rewards: ValuePenguin calculates the value of rewards by estimating the dollar value of any points, miles or bonuses earned using the card less any associated annual fees. These estimates here are ValuePenguin's alone, not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the offers that appear on this website are from companies which ValuePenguin receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where offers appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). The site does not review or include all companies or all available products. For more information please see our Advertiser Disclosure.